Four middle-school students were arrested yesterday in what police described as a racially motivated robbery and attack - the latest in a spate of bias crimes that have inflamed a section of Brooklyn.

The four called the victim a "cracker" before beating him and stealing his cellphone on Veterans Avenue in Mill Basin, police said. The boy was not hurt badly. He was able to identify his attackers when he returned to school yesterday.

[Paul Browne] said, "There appears to be growing public awareness of the distinction between bias-motivated and other crimes," which may have led to the upswing in reported bias crimes.